We believe that current homeschooling oversight is insufficient to properly safeguard homeschooled children’s right to an education. In states where no notice is required, there is literally no oversight of homeschooling, and in states with no assessment requirements there is nothing to ensure that parents are providing their children with the education required by law. Further, many states that do have assessment requirements are fraught with loopholes. In this brief, we offer an overview of the current state of oversight of homeschooling.

We believe that homeschool policy should center on children’s interests. Current oversight of homeschooling varies from state to state, and frequently lacks basic protections. Oversight safeguarding homeschooled children’s wellbeing and interest in an education may take a variety of forms and need not look identical in each state. Here we present our policy recommendations.

While many homeschooled children have positive homeschool experiences, others do not. In these pages, we cover the role homeschooling can play in concealing child abuse, basic themes of child abuse in homeschool settings, why and how educational neglect occurs in homeschool settings, and the role of lax homeschool laws in hiding the distinction between truancy and homeschooling.